The Better Angels of our Nature
by Beemishbeliever
Summary: If I were writing a pilot episode for a new CA show this would be that show. Meet Carrie, Susan, Brianne, and Tina as they follow in their mom's footsteps. Kelly Garrett has called together a new team of Angels and they are faced with finding a killer.


The Better Angels of our Nature

The Better Angels of our Nature

I do not own Charlie's Angels or the characters based on the series. This story is written for the purpose of general entertainment and nothing more.

"Good morning ladies, I'm glad that you're here on time." Kelly Garrett welcomed the four women

"Actually, we're a little late." Carrie pointed out.

"No according to my watch it is 9:30 exactly the time we were asked to be here." Tina corrected.

"I was told to be here at 9:00." Carrie said looking back to her mother.

"Sorry, Carrie I know you too well, I needed you to be here on time and asking you to be here earlier than the others was the only way that I could ensure that. I guess it is one of the travails of working with your mother." Kelly said as a slight smile crossed her face.

Susan laughed her bright smile, the same magical one that her mother had. She was a dead ringer for Jill except for her dark raven locks. She had a sophistication that her new co-workers lacked. She spoke six languages fluently and she was at ease in the company of the rich or privileged. Her cousin, Brianne sat next to her on the couch a fair-haired beauty like her mom. Brianne was less worldly than her cousin, but she showed an eagerness for everything. She was an excellent surfer, water skier, scuba diver jet skier, and swimmer and just about anything else that had to do with the water. Having grown up on a beach, she felt very comfortable in the water. She also had a knack for using words and was already a published poet at age 24. Like her mother, she had chosen to attend the police academy, like her aunt, she chose to do so in Los Angeles. She had a side interest in explosives as well, and was even consulted on occasion by her supervisors when she was a rookie on the police force.

"I'm pleased to welcome you to the Townsend Agency; you're members of a rather select sorority." Kelly continued her introduction. "You have the advantage that all of you know one another already. However, you have been chosen not just because of your mother's affiliation with the agency, but because you are exceptional women who seek more from life."

"Kelly, I'm sorry to interrupt but there are many remarkable women out there, we're here because our mothers are your friends." Tina injected.

"I don't deny pedigree was a factor in your selection because as we've discovered through years of working in this business, friendship can be a vital asset to success." Kelly explained. As most of you are aware, when Mr. Townsend passed away some time ago, Mr. Bosley took over, when Mr. Bosley died; I took over the reigns of the agency. Mr. Bosley's death was very difficult on the two remaining operatives that we had at the time and I recommended that they take some time off, perhaps even forgoing this type of career. I thought it best to get a fresh start, and so I began to examine my choices. I looked over the names of police academy graduates and this is where I found Brianne's name. Her abilities were most impressive and her scores at the police academy were outstanding. This immediately made me think of her cousin, Susan. I had recently had lunch with your mother and she was just gushing about your accomplishments. Your degrees in art history and political science from the Sorbonne will assist us in dealing with more urbane clientele. You have an excellent background for dealing with international clients and political intrigues. Your ability to speak six languages fluently is also a bonus to the agency. Tina, you were my wildcard in this group. As an established professor of logic and mathematics at Cornell, you certainly did not need this position. You finished your doctorate at the age 25 with a thesis utilizing mathematics to combat crime. It is far more complex than I am explaining here, but there are some police forces already looking into utilizing your theory in daily practice. After speaking with your mother, I contacted you and was pleased to hear that you might possibly be interested in taking a position with us. Although I would have liked a longer commitment from you, I accept your decision to give us a test run over your sabbatical. I was rather pleased with my team going into last month when your mother; Brianne brought up the fact that I had overlooked someone. I guess it is true that the closer something is to you, the less likely you are to see it, and so I've asked my daughter, Carrie to join us. As you know, she has spent a number of years in Guatemala working with the Peace Corps there. She is a black belt in jujitsu, has trained extensively with weapons and shoots expert. She is also bilingual in Spanish which with Susan's language skills should be handy in this area."

"So the Peace Corps girl brings the firepower, doesn't that seem illogical." Tina addressed Carrie.

"Well, Mr. Spock, you're right but I was happy to have some defensive skills when I was in Guatemala." Carrie retorted.

"Here are your folios explaining in detail the case we've been hired to work on." Kelly said distributing the packets to each of the women and ignoring the exchange between Tina and Carrie.

The women opened up their folders and were struck by the handsome face peering back at them.

"This is Rafael Rousseau, he's a Spanish diplomat."

"Rousseau, that's a French surname." Susan pointed out.

"His mother was a Spaniard and his father was French. His father worked as an ambassador to Spain under Giscard d' Estaing's administration. They met in 1976 and were married in 1977. Rafael was born in 1978 and his brother Felipe in 1980. His father left the diplomatic corps in 1980 and worked as a special advisor to the Spanish government. He has moved his family repeatedly from France, Spain, Mexico and the United States. His most recent appointment was as an advisor to Spain's ambassador to the U.S." Kelly explained.

"So did he give up his French citizenship, since he is now working for Spain?" Tina asked as she took in all the data.

"No, his marriage gave him dual citizenship, which has made the travel between countries easier." Kelly responded to the query.

"You know, I think I've met him." Susan commented trying to recall where she had seen his face.

"I believe that you have, Susan, he is a Formula 500 race fan and would have been keen to meet your mother. I talked to Jill and she doesn't recall Rafael, but she does remember his father. Apparently dad was a bit of a womanizer."

"Oh please, don't tell me that my mother was having an affair with this guy." Susan moaned woefully.

"No, Jill told me he propositioned, but his advances were rejected so you can rest easy." Kelly replied lightly.

"I think I recall meeting him somewhere in Europe, maybe the Prince's ball in Monaco?" Susan replied thinking aloud. "I can look over the photos of the event and see if we met."

"I have already checked the event you mentioned and both of you were there. I just couldn't establish if you had actually met him. Anyway, it will be a good starting point for us." Kelly acknowledged.

"So what exactly is Mr. Rousseau doing that we are paying such close attention?" Brianne asked curious to get started.

"It is believed in some circles that Rafael Rousseau is a serial killer. There is a repeated pattern of women turning up dead in the areas where he has been. If one believes that he is responsible for these killings, then his first kill would have been when he was 15 in Barcelona. Shortly after, his father moved the family to Perpignan, France near the Spanish border, where the family remained until 1997 However, in 1996, Rafael began to attend the University of Guadalajara later he was joined by his family in Mexico. In 1999 he transferred to Georgetown University. Eventually, he decided to complete his degree at Stanford and moved on to there in 2000. He returned to Spain after graduation and apparently with some help from daddy managed to get into some entry-level government positions. He currently works for the deputy ambassador of Spain maintaining homes in Virginia and here in Santa Monica. His father died unexpectedly last year and his mother now resides in his California home. In total, it is believed that he is responsible for the deaths of seven young women. He was also involved in a case in France where he was found innocent of killing Gerard Flaubert. Flaubert had been the boyfriend of one of the murdered girls and apparently came after Rousseau seeking to avenge his girlfriend's death. Rousseau shot him five times in self defense."

"Was he that poor of a shot that he needed to hit the guy five times?" Carrie questioned.

"No the first shot killed Flaubert as it was fired at point blank range to his head." Kelly explained.

"I see and how exactly were the extra shots explained." Carrie continued to question.

"His fear caused him to continue to shoot. It is all explained in your packet."

"So if these deaths are tied to this guy, why has there been no arrest regarding any of them?" Tina asked as she glanced over her information.

"It is due to quite a few factors; first Rafael had diplomatic immunity in most instances so he has never spoken with the police about any of the murders, second, the murders have taken place in different locales creating jurisdiction headaches, third there is absolutely no D.N.A. evidence to link him to any of the victims except for the girl in D.C. and the one here, perhaps he is getting sloppy, the ballistics on the weapons is different in each case, and finally his father could be very persuasive. A number of the people involved in the investigation of these murders have suddenly come into large sums of money. Although the money can be traced to Swiss banks, it has been impossible to determine the owner of the accounts."

"Well if there is D.N.A. evidence for the last two victims, why can't that be used?" Susan noted.

"Because Rousseau was in relationships with those two women and he freely admits to having had contact with them. The D.N.A. that was present was not of a sexual nature nor does it point to anything other than the fact that the victim and Rousseau were in contact."

"So why is everyone so sure that he is the one who killed the girls?" Tina asked playing devil's advocate.

"He had opportunity which doesn't seem like much, but it is unlikely that there are many people who have been in the variety of locations that he has been."

"What about his father?" Tina continued.

"His father wasn't present in the Georgetown area when that girl went missing and there has been another murder since his father has died."

"Still how do they know that the murders are all connected?" Tina said thinking aloud.

"Oh that's warped." Brianne exclaimed after turning the page and then closing her folder quickly.

"What is it?" Susan asked noticing how disturbed Brianne was.

"It's because of the method of the kills isn't it?" Brianne asked looking to Kelly dismayed.

"Yes." Kelly replied quietly.

"What did he do?" Susan asked as she paged ahead in her packet.

"He drugged each of the girls then inserted the gun into each girl's vagina and then fired three shots." Brianne said her voice quivering with anger and heart-rending indignation."

Each of them let out an uncomfortable moan as Carrie shook her head in disbelief.

"How can he keep getting away with this?" Carrie said as she stood up and walked to the window.

"I'm with Carrie on this one, how does one get away with this kind of hideous crime. I don't care if his father is some bigwig. This shouldn't be allowed to continue." Susan replied dismayed and angry.

"I thought you would feel this way. It's how I felt when Mr. Basen spoke to me about his daughter, Rebecca. She was the most recent girl killed. Rebecca had been a student at Stanford; she was in pre-med with the hope of becoming an obstetrician one day. She dated Rafael Rousseau for a couple of months, and then broke it off with him. Her father doesn't know why they broke up, she didn't speak of it. He assumed it was because Rafael was dividing his time between the two coasts. They still occasionally saw one another, but it was usually in group situations. Then about a month ago, Rebecca disappeared. Her body turned up a week later in a shallow section of Manhattan Beach. She had been killed in the same manner as we discussed. Mr. Basen was understandably upset. The police have been working on the case, but they have gotten little cooperation from Mr. Rousseau. Mr. Rousseau claims to have been in Virginia at the times of the murder, but so far, it has been impossible to either prove or disprove this. Mr. Basen is not a wealthy man; he invested a sizable amount of money into his daughter's college expenses. He has offered to pay us what he can. I offered to take the case without a commission. We have a sizable investment portfolio and the agency is financially viable so I am not asking you to forgo your pay. I just felt that the man had lost enough and that if there was any way we could help him, then we should." Kelly said summarizing her reasons for taking the case.

"So how do we proceed, if the police can't get near Rousseau, what makes you so confident that we can?" Tina inquired beginning to wonder if perhaps they weren't getting in over their heads.

"Lucky for us, Susan's mother happens to be holding a party this coming weekend and the guest list includes Rafael and his mother, Migdalia. Of course, Susan will be in attendance as will her cousin, Brianne, and Tina you will also be attending."

"What will I be doing, mother, hiding out here in the office looking over phone records or some such thing?" Carrie asked not able to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"No my dear, you will be in Spain interviewing a police detective named Marcello Galarza. He is the one person that the Rousseau family has not been able to pay off and he is the one who has collected most of the evidence pointing to Rousseau's guilt. His wife and daughter were murdered a number of years ago and that's why he refuses to be swayed away from this case. When I spoke with him on the phone, he came across as very dedicated and knowledgeable, but unfortunately, my Spanish is not as good as yours is. Since I need Susan here for the party, your Spanish skills win you the trip to Spain." Kelly clarified.

"So in the meantime, what are we doing?" Brianne asked.

"Get to know the specifics of the cases in depth. Check for similarities and differences between the physical features of the girls, where their bodies were found, how long they were missing, anything that strikes you as odd. Carrie your plane leaves for Spain tomorrow morning at 11:00 but I would like for all of us to meet back here at the office tomorrow around 8:00. So until then, you've got your homework assignment."

"So is that 8:00 for everyone or should I show up at 8:30." Carrie teased.

"8:00 for everyone, but be on time." Kelly emphasized.

They got up slowly, Brianne and Susan chatting quietly as the proceeded towards the door, Tina sprang up and hurried out the door like a kid who couldn't wait for recess. Only Carrie lingered waiting for the others to leave before coming over to her mother.

"I'm sorry about the phone record comment; I just assumed that you would try to keep me out of the action." She said sheepishly.

"I'd like to keep all of you out of the action, but I couldn't let this case go. I had to do something and although I'm no longer going to be chasing any bad guys down myself; I thought I could find some people who could."

"I wouldn't put it past you to run down some thug, I know you still give me a workout when we're practicing tai chi. Are you sure that this is going to work out?"

"Can anyone be sure of anything?" Kelly replied. "What's bothering you?" Kelly asked intuitively knowing that her daughter was not herself.

"I'm just not sure that this is going to work out. I feel like I've got more to prove than the others, that maybe I'm not really cut out for this."

"You do have more to prove than the other three." Kelly's response surprised her daughter. "You're the boss's daughter and with that comes some baggage, but as Tina pointed out, all of you have a legacy to live up to."

"This case is just so important and with the exception of Brianne, we've only had minimal training. I'm not even sure how to go about this. I mean, I've spent the past three years living in small villages subsisting on what could be grown in the area, now I'm going to be expected to hang out with high society or pretend to be someone I'm not. Other people's lives are depending on me."

"Weren't other lives depending on you, those three years in Guatemala? You have life experience, all of you do and you will use those experiences to find your way through this case. The four of you are far ahead of where Sabrina, Jill and I were when we started out. So is that all, just some 'I'm not worthy jitters.'"

"I'm not so sure having Tina and I work together is the best of ideas."

"I picked up on that from the Mr. Spock comment. Maybe it is a bad idea, but then again maybe it was going to take a little nudge to get the two of you back together as friends."

"Mom, you know that isn't going to happen. The robot queen isn't going to suddenly decide that she needs friends. She is no longer of this world."

"When was the last time that you and Tina talked?"

"I spoke with her right before I left for Guatemala, but I could have saved my breath. She was so obsessed with her damn numbers that no one else mattered. She also sent a sympathy card when she heard about Alejandro."

"Carrie it isn't numbers that are Tina's focus, it's what those numbers represent to her. Have you read her work, it's incredible, well at least the stuff that I could understand, was incredible. She's used probability, algebra, and geometry to basically pinpoint the incidence of crime. She studies socioeconomic situations, she's examined educational issues and how certain characteristics not necessarily grades increases or decrease the likelihood of someone committing a crime. In Seattle and Sacramento where they have begun using her theories, crime has been cut in half. All incidence of crime, from violent offenders to white collar has shown a steady decline. A fifty percent decrease is almost unheard of. I don't have to tell you that the obsession with finding a way to cut down on crime stemmed from her father's death. I would also take the card that she sent you as a sign that she doesn't want to be separate. She at least made an effort, if she didn't care at all, she would have done nothing."

"I know and for the first two years after her dad's death, I tried to be supportive. She was my best friend and it was hard to see her going through that, but she closed everyone out. She even had issues with her mother. We had one huge argument about the way she was treating her mom and she was so angry with me but I was actually happy to see that because it showed that she still had some sort of humanity left in her. As for the card, yes it was something, but she could have called, she could have made an effort to speak with me."

"If I recall correctly, you had issues with your mother as a teen as well." Kelly said as she laughed lightly. "Give her a chance; I don't think she's here for the money."

Carrie smiled back and recalled some of those earlier mother daughter disputes. "It would be great to have the Tina back who could always make me laugh, but I'm afraid she died the same day as her father."

"You're right, she's not the same but after all you're not the same person who left three years ago either. The world wasn't exactly kind to you. Maybe now that you've experienced a loss, Tina can relate to you."

"It shouldn't have taken something like that. I didn't become some sort of hermit who spent hours a day manipulating numbers."

"No, you did just the opposite. You became involved in so much that you rarely had time to slow down. You didn't hide away like Tina but you didn't let yourself grieve."

"My mother the psychiatrist, I've taken time to grieve, I just don't feel the need to focus my energies on such a negative thoughts." Carrie replied defensively.

"I don't want to argue with you, I just want you to try and look at things from another perspective."

"You're probably right, I'm willing to give it a try with Tina, I wouldn't have agreed if I wasn't."

"Sure you would have, I asked you to and I knew that you weren't going to turn down the chance to work with Brianne and Susan. You've all been close since you were kids."

"I have to admit you've managed to get yourself a wide range of personalities. Brianne is like the anti-Tina, I'm not sure we've ever had a cross word and Susan projects this elite, glamour image, but she is really pretty down to earth. I can see where that might be useful especially in this case. Thanks for letting me go to Spain, I'll try my best. I know that this can't be easy for you."

"It's easier than wondering where you are in Guatemala every night." Kelly replied as she wrapped her in a hug.

"Well mom, I guess I better get home and pack since I'm off to Barcelona tomorrow, how many days should I plan for?"

"I'd say pack for five days even though I am only planning on you being gone for three."

"Wouldn't it have been easier for Susan or me just to have talked to Detective Galarza on the phone?"

"No, I've spoken to him already, but I want you to see what evidence they have, the crime scenes, anything that might tip the balance in our favor. Galarza is one of the few people to have contact with Rousseau although not officially. Perhaps, he can give you some idea of how to proceed when dealing with him."

"You're the boss, I won't argue a trip to Spain."

Kelly smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow morning and then if you need a ride to the airport I'll be happy to be the chauffeur."

"Sounds like a plan." Carrie said as she headed out the door.

The next morning they all gathered at the office at 8:00 even Carrie was on time, although just barely.

"Susan I spoke with your mother yesterday and she verified that Mr. Rousseau would be making an appearance at the party." Kelly confirmed as they took their seats.

"Kelly, you realize that I have nothing to wear. This was rather short notice." Susan replied with a grin.

"I guess you will just have to spend some time this afternoon finding something suitable and by all means put it on your expense account." Kelly added.

"Can I bring a guest?" Tina questioned.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem." Kelly responded quickly but was surprised that the request was coming from Tina.

"Of course, if Mr. Rousseau is not interested in Susan or Brianne, you will have to lose your guest." Kelly pointed out.

"How much are we allowed to tell other people?" Brianne asked.

"I suppose it depends on the people and the method of communication. It is best to avoid telling things to new friends or acquaintances, but if it's someone you've known a long time, then use your judgment. I would prefer that you discuss sensitive issues involving the case in person rather than on the phone, but that can't always be the case. After all, Carrie will be calling from Barcelona to report in, so that will be by phone."

"I was hoping you would say that we couldn't tell anyone." Brianne replied smiling. "My mother is already driving me crazy with questions. However, under your criteria, I suppose I'm going to have to tell her."

"It wouldn't hurt to bounce off ideas with your mom. All of you should be open to doing that. Your moms were all excellent detectives." Kelly encouraged.

"I noticed from reading over the folio that most of the victims were discovered near water but not in water and they were killed where their bodies were found. None of the weapons have been found and all of the bullets are distinct. It appears that they have all been created individually. The composition of the metals has been different each time. However, the bullets taken from each individual were of the same metallic composition."

"So why are you bringing those points up." Kelly prodded Tina further.

"Well killing the girls near water allows for him to wash away evidence, but it does increase the risk of being discovered. Dumping off a dead body and then leaving a site is one thing but taking someone there and going through this rather ritualistic killing would take time. Susan, I noticed that a couple of the reports were in French, would you mind going over those with me later?" Tina continued.

"Sure, they were mostly toxicology reports." Susan affirmed.

"As for the weapons, could a 15 year old master gunsmithing and get the materials to create his own unique bullets?" Tina reasoned aloud.

"What if he had help?" Carrie pointed out. "Maybe dad was an influence early on and Rafael just kept up the tradition after dad was gone."

"That would be a sick family tradition." Susan commented.

"The tide, that's it." Tina exclaimed. "He killed them at low tide, then when high tide came in, it would clear away evidence that might be left behind. The bodies were usually found near rock formations, the water would wash over the bodies but because of the rocks the bodies would stay put. During high tide, no one would be in the area, and the bodies would be discovered at low tide."

"We have a list of the approximate time of death for all the victims, I'm sure that we could check to see what the status of the tides." Brianne pointed out. "You have a point, but wasn't the first victim found in a forested area?"

"You're right, maybe he hadn't perfected his set up yet. Maybe, I'm completely wrong, but at least it gives us something to look into. Obviously, we've only had 24 hours to examine these findings. I'm just brainstorming some ideas, hoping that something might fit." Tina explained.

"That's exactly what you should be doing. Susan I would like you to translate those toxicology reports, Brianne will you find the tide charts for the areas where the bodies were found, and Tina would you check out the area where Rebecca Basen was found." Kelly said as she assigned them their tasks. I will then see the three of you tomorrow evening at 8:00 for the party. Carrie, I'll need to keep you awhile longer to go over what we need from your trip to Barcelona."

"Then if we are through, I've got to head over to Beverly Hills to find something to wear." Susan said as she headed for the door not really waiting for an answer.

"Hey wait, I'll tag along." Brianne said catching her at the door.

"Have a good time," Carrie called to them as they exited the room. "No shopping for you?" Carrie directed the question at Tina.

"No I'm good. I was just thinking about something in the reports. Anyway, I guess I'll go check the Basen crime scene out." Tina said grabbing her purse and making her way to the door.

"So what should I be looking for?" Carrie asked her mother who was focused elsewhere.

"I'm sorry what were you saying?" Kelly replied as she looked up from her desk.

"What should I be looking for when I'm in Spain?" Carrie reworded the question.

"I wish I could tell you. After so many years the crime scenes are not going to be much help. Still being there might actually trigger something that could be important later. It would also be a good idea to take a look at the evidence that has been collected and read over all the reports. We have most of them, but sometimes something gets overlooked." Kelly said tossing out some ideas.

"So this Detective Galarza that I am to speak to, is expecting me?"

"Yes, he sounded like a very nice guy and should be very helpful to you. Did you bring your suitcases with you?"

"Of course, with L.A. traffic, I couldn't take the chance that the meeting would get over in time for me to make my flight. I will leave my car in the garage, if you are willing to drive me still?

"Let's get your suitcases out of the car and we'll head out. If I think of anything else we can discuss it in the car." Kelly said as she grabbed her keys and made her way to the door.

Traffic proved to be heavy but it was moving and that was about the best that one could hope for in L.A. When they arrived, Kelly insisted on parking the car and walking Carrie into the terminal.

"You could have just dropped me off, mom." Carrie pointed out as they headed towards her gate.

"I know, but I've always seen you off at the airport. I just wanted to make sure that you got through everything o.k. Besides, your flight will be a long one so I thought you could use the company." Kelly reasoned trying not to seem worried.

"Thanks mom, but you really didn't have to do this. I will be fine. Still I wouldn't want you to be any different. You really are the best." Carrie said smiling and giving her an unexpected hug.

"You're right, but what was that for?" Kelly questioned.

"Thanks for trusting me enough not to screw this up. I know it would have been just as easy for you to send Susan."

"Carrie, I never worry about your abilities, it's just I worry about the people that you are going to have to deal with. In some ways, I'm more worried about Susan and Brianne since they are actually going to be the ones who have to deal with Rousseau on a more direct level."

"You're not concerned about Tina?" Carrie questioned.

"I honestly don't think Mr. Rousseau is going to bypass Susan or Brianne in favor of Tina." Kelly explained.

"You're right; this just doesn't seem like an assignment that Tina is going to relish."

The flight was set to leave on time and Carrie determined that it was time for her to make her way through security and to the gate. She hugged her mom and headed off through the gate. Kelly watched and said a quiet prayer that she would have a safe trip.

The trip went as smoothly as could be hoped for. Her flights were on time and there was a surprising lack of turbulence.

Carrie arrived in the early hours of the morning and was happy that she had gotten a lot of sleep on the flight. She hurried and picked up her luggage. She would check into the hotel, get settled, showered and make her way over to Detective Galrarza's office.

Back in California the party was beginning to come together.

"Mom?" Brianne started the short word seemingly holding endless questions.

"Yes," Kris replied as she finished placing her second earring in.

"Were you nervous when you first started working for Charlie?"

"I tried not to let anyone think that I was but I sure had plenty of butterflies that first day. Trying to replace your Aunt Jill was no small task. I knew that Kelly and Sabrina were really terrific from all the things that Jill had told me, still I wasn't sure if they would like me or not"

"Besides that stuff, did the job itself worry you at all?" Brianne asked.

"Oh you mean having to visit a nude beach on my first case and finding out that the boss had been kidnapped. I was definitely a little hesitant but at least I had Kelly, Sabrina and Bosley to help me out. I do sort of wish you weren't all so new to this, but with Kelly in charge, I'm sure things will go fine."

"I'm just not sure I'm up to going in there and flirting with this guy that I know has killed so many people. I'm really glad that Kelly asked Susan to make the first attempt with him. I just wish she had asked Tina to be the back up."

"Just relax and enjoy the party. Pretend it is like any other night. I have the feeling that Mr. Rousseau will be caught up with Susan so that you won't have to worry and if he isn't well then you will give it your best shot. You can be a pretty good actress if I recall. You were the star in quite a number of your high school productions."

"Yes, but I had a script for those. I'm not even sure how I would approach this guy." Brianne protested.

"Brianne, you're thinking about it way too much. Just go in there and be yourself and have a good time. Kelly, Jill, Tina, Susan and I will all be there. You have plenty of other people who you know out there as well. If it comes time to make your move, I know that you will come through. You're my daughter after all." Kris said giving her a wink and a pat on the back.

"I'll give it my best shot." Brianne said smiling feeling better about things as she headed downstairs to meet with Susan.

Susan was fiddling with a flower arrangement while her mother was giving her advice which Susan was only half listening to.

"Hey" Brianne said as she approached her aunt and cousin.

"Don't you look amazing!" Jill complimented Brianne as she descended the stairs.

"Nice very nice," Susan commented looking up from the flowers.

"Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself." Brianne returned the compliment to Susan. "As for you Aunt Jill, between you, my mother and Kelly, it's hard to be impressive at our age, when you are still all so lovely. Are you sure you don't want to make a run at Rousseau?"

"No I'm afraid my days of seduction are over with." Jill smiled sheepishly.

"At least on a professional basis." Susan commented slyly.

Ignoring the comment Jill spoke again to Brianne. "I thought you would be the one Kelly would send after Rousseau first. I was just trying to give Susan some hints but she doesn't want to hear such things from her mother."

"Aunt Jill, I would be more than happy to hear what you had to say." Brianne said sucking up to her aunt.

Susan just rolled her eyes and watched as her mother and Brianne walked off. Kris was coming down the stairs as Susan continued maneuvering flowers within the arrangement.

"Susan you look wonderful, I will be shocked if Mr. Rousseau doesn't take an interest in you."

"So will I?" Susan retorted with a mischievous grin. "I just wish that we could get started."

"I think Brianne would be happy if it never got started." Kris commented. "Are you nervous?"

"Nervous, not really, I'm angry that this creep is still walking around and I know that this is the first step to ending that. I wouldn't say nervous at all, just determined."

"Well good luck, did you see where my daughter went off to?"

"Brianne and my mom were headed towards the back. I'm not sure exactly where they were heading."

"I guess I'll head that way and see if I can find them." Kris said taking her leave of Susan.

Later that evening, Jill joined Kelly and Kris in the back where they were reminiscing about old times.

"Kelly I had to admit that I wasn't too crazy about Brianne doing this, but I figured it was no more dangerous than what she was already doing. Still it does bring back many memories for me. I also know that she was ready for something more challenging. She's going to make a great angel" Kris spoke with obvious pride.

"Kris you know that I will do everything in my power to keep them safe. I have to say that I'm happy just to have Carrie in the same country. After the death squad killed Alejandro, I don't think I ever had a sound night's sleep. I was constantly worried about her."

"Wow who is that?" Jill commented as a young woman walked in with a dashingly handsome man as her accessory.

"It's Tina," Kris replied in surprise.

"My, my I think our plain Jane duckling has just turned into a swan." Kelly commented admiringly.

"You know I wouldn't have known it was her if she didn't look so much like Bri when she was younger." Kris noted.

"Susan's got more than her cousin for competition tonight." Jill commented as Tina walked towards them.

"Good evening ladies, this is Dr. Paul Walker. He's a physics professor at USC." Tina introduced them to the handsome gentleman on her arm.

The women exchanged greetings and Tina went off to work the crowd.

"To think I was worried that she would be awkward here." Kelly remarked. "I should have known better."

Susan had already staked out a position with Rousseau. If he took to her there would be no need for Tina or Brianne to vie for his attention.

"Hello, I don't think I know you." Susan said introducing herself to Mr. Rousseau.

"No I don't believe that we have met, but I do know who you are." He replied with a warm smile.

"Is that so, and who am I?" Susan replied coyly.

"You are the daughter of the greatest female racecar driver of all time." He replied obviously happy with himself.

"You better not let my mother hear you talk like that." Susan responded to his enthusiasm.

"I see so she is very humble, your mother."

"No, actually she would be a little angry that you put the word female in there. Although if you left that word out, I think she would find the statement to her liking." Susan replied light heartedly.

"I see." He said laughing.

"I guess I'm still at a disadvantage as you know who I am but I'm still not sure who you are."

"Yes, that was rude of me, I am Rafael Rousseau."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Rousseau, your name is intriguing." Susan replied, never taking her eyes from his gaze.

"How so?"

"You have a definite Latin tinge to your accent and yet you have a French surname. Could you be from Haiti or perhaps another Caribbean island?"

"No, I was actually born in Spain, my father was a French diplomat and my mother was a Spaniard. They met when he served in the Spain. "

"That's very interesting, Parlez-vous le français de même que l'anglais ?" Susan asked in flawless French.

"Oui et l'espagnol aussi." He responded without hesitation.

"I see so you must have had an interesting upbringing." She continued to keep the conversation on what men most enjoyed talking about, themselves.

"Yes, I've been lucky enough to visit many countries and both my parents have very interesting lives. How did you come to your language skills?" He asked enjoying the brief exchange in French.

"Mother toured most of Europe and I was constantly around different cultures. My father paid to have me tutored in languages from an early age and my first friend spoke French so we sort of taught one another our respective languages."

" So how many languages do you speak?"

"Six, but who's really counting." Susan replied smiling shyly.

"My that is impressive," he said catching her gaze again.

"Well thank you. So did you come here alone this evening?" Susan asked trying not to seem forward but definitely wanting to indicate interest.

"No I'm afraid not." He replied casually.

"So where is the lucky lady, off powdering her nose?" Susan asked curiously.

"Actually I'm not sure where she wandered off to. She actually was the one who was invited to the party and I'm her escort."

"I see, and to think that I told mother just to invite only handsome, single men and here I thought you might be one of those."

"Ms. Munroe, I am definitely single, I'm sorry if I lead you to believe otherwise. You see I'm actually here as my mother's escort." Rafael responded with a bright smile.

Susan brightened immediately and giggled slightly, "I have to say that I am happy to hear that."

"That really is a wonderful Warhol like portrait of your mother. Who did she commission to paint in his style?"

"Oh mother didn't actually commission anyone, it was a gift." Susan explained.

"It must have come from a very creative suitor." Rafael said as he studied the painting.

"No, Mr. Warhol wasn't one of mother's suitors, they were just friends and he gave it to her for her birthday one year. Andy was such a fan of racing, did you know that?" Susan enlightened him to the origins of the painting.

"I'm sorry, it's just that everyone doesn't have an original Warhol in their home. I'm actually very embarrassed because my mother is an artist and I'm actually quite familiar with the world of art." He explained trying to make up for the faux pas.

"Don't worry, it's no big deal. So what type of art does your mother do?"

"She primarily paints but it is with an interesting technique. It is hard to describe. Perhaps sometime I could show you some of her work."

"I would like that very much. So do you dabble in art at all?"

"No, I wasn't blessed with artistic skills, however I do have a strong appreciation for art. I've been wanting to visit your art museum here in L.A."

"You know you really shouldn't go there alone."

"Why is it located in a bad part of town?"

"No, but the collections are quite expansive and if you don't have the proper guide, you could miss a lot."

"I see, so do you know anyone, who could be my guide?" He asked knowingly.

"Actually I've spent a great many hours in that museum and would be happy to show you the collections." Susan elaborated.

"Such an offer, how can I resist?"

"Good then we shall have to get together for a long afternoon, perhaps even get a start in the morning." Susan offered.

"What day is good for you?"

"I promised to help mother get things back together tomorrow, but I'm pretty much free most of next week." Susan offered

I'm glad that you are busy tomorrow because I wasn't available either , but Monday would be perfect."

"Terrific, the museum is usually less crowded on Mondays as well." Susan replied in a most upbeat manner.

They continued to talk for some time before Jill came over and stole Susan away.

"So how did things go?" Jill said as they were at a safe distance from him.

"I'm going to the art museum with him on Monday."

"Nice work, I'll let Kelly know and I'll tell Tina and Brianne to forget approaching him since he's already taken the bait. I'm so proud of you." Jill said impressed with her daughter's adept skills.

"Thanks mom, but for now on, no more fish analogies o.k.?" Susan said laughing. "I never thought you'd be proud of me for dating a possible serial killer."

"Did you have to remind me of that?" Jill asked her previous high spirits deflated.

"I'm sorry, everything is going to be fine. This is just the first step in the plan. It won't be long before we reel him in and put him in the cooler." Susan said laughing over her own fish commentary.

"Now look who's using the fishing analogies," Jill commented as her daughter walked away towards her cousin Brianne who looked like she needed to be rescued from a nebbish looking waiter.

Jill mingled with some of her party guests as she made her way over to her sister and Kelly who were standing in the corner trying to look inconspicuous.

"I just thought you might like to know that Susan has a date with Mr. Rousseau." Jill said as she got up to the two other women.

"I knew that Susan would get him. She just seemed like his type." Kris responded.

"What does that mean? Susan's no more his type than Brianne." Jill responded taking offense at the comment.

"Jill, I just meant that he was worldly and very cultured and that plays to Susan's strength. I'm glad for Brianne's sake that she didn't have to make an attempt at him as she is really nervous. She's a bit like a fish out of water." Kris commented.

"What's with all this fish discussion?" Jill questioned. "I've never had so much discussion about fish when there weren't any fish involved.

"Maybe it's because of the fish ice sculpture that you have over there." Kelly deadpanned as she nodded in the direction of the glistening ice figure.

"Note to self, never have a fish ice sculpture for a party and remember to leave Kelly and Kris off the guest list." Jill said pretending to mentally check off the list.

"Hey what did I say, I was just trying to explain your fish issues." Kelly replied in a surprised tone.

"There is no explanation for the fish issue, Kelly so just leave it alone." Kris said as she took another glass of champagne from the waiter who strolled by.

The evening proved to be enjoyable in spite of the fact that it was actually work. Jill, Kelly and Kris spent a lot of time catching up with one another although some of Jill's time was taken as she was the host. Susan mixed with a few other guys but kept her eyes on Rousseau, flashing a sweet smile at him whenever she caught his eye. Tina and Brianne spoke a couple of times at the party but Tina spent much of the time with her professor after she found out that she would not be needed in the Rousseau derby. She also spent some time watching Rousseau's mother who spoke only to an older gentleman and her son the entire evening. Tina only caught snippets of the conversation. Nothing came across to her as being unusual. When she had left she was glad that Paul had driven as she had probably had one glass of champagne too many.

Carrie arrived at the police station a bit early; even she was surprised by her own punctuality as she knew that she had a tendency to be late. She hadn't spoken Spanish in quite awhile before today, but she had found that navigating the airport and picking up her rental car had gone well so she hoped this would go equally well. She walked through the door into a room which teemed with people. She found her way to a reception area and proceeded to inquire about Officer Galarza.

"Hola, busco a oficial Galarza".

¿"Puedo preguntar yo quién usted es"?

"Sí, soy Carrie Allen, yo he conseguido una cita para 3:00 de la tarde.

"Sí, él mencionó que más temprano, permitió que mí tomele apoya".

He pushed a button under the desk, and told Carrie to open the door. She did and proceeded inside. She followed the uniformed man into the back of the room, where a gentleman in a finely tailored suit stood up to greet her.

"Miss Allen," he said in slightly accented English. "I am glad that you arrived safely."

"Gracias para el saludo en inglés, pero sería feliz de hablar con usted en español. Es una cortesía como yo soy un huésped en su país". Carrie replied in Spanish.

"Actually, I need the practice, with Rousseau living in the United States; I tend to have more need to communicate in English."

"Then I guess that any of my associates could have been sent here, as we were under the impression that we would need someone fluent in Spanish to speak with you." Carrie explained.

"I'm glad that they sent you." He replied with considerable charm. "So what type of information are you looking for Miss Allen?"

"I was hoping to get a look at the murder sites and discuss the evidence that you have uncovered. Perhaps, even glean some insight into why Rousseau is still roaming free"

"Then let's get started, I will take you to the two murder sites in Barcelona this evening, then tomorrow we look at the other sites here in Spain. I could also make arrangements to check out the French site as well."

"That would be good. So how did you get involved with this case?"

"I wasn't a police officer when the first killing took place but I do recall the news about it. It was pretty shocking but like all sensational crimes, the sensation only lasts till a new crime captures the press's attention. I started with the police force about a month after the second killing in France. I wanted very much to solve the case in order to make it to detective so that I could support my wife and daughter better."

"So what made you take on this case?"

"Arrogance." He stated succinctly. "I hated the detective assigned to the case and I knew that he was on the take although I had no proof at the time."

"So did you ever prove he was getting paid?"

"No, but he moved to a chateau in the French Riviera so I have my own proof. "Anyway, the method of killing was originally all that tied the French case to ours. That's when Mr. Rousseau made his first mistake. He shot and killed a man named Flaubert and this man was the fiancé of victim number two. Although Rousseau was eventually found not guilty for the Flaubert killing, it forced us to take a closer look at the case. That's when we discovered that he had been in Barcelona at the time of the first killing."

"So basically since the second murder, he's been the prime suspect and yet he's been able to kill 5 more people?" Carrie asked incredulously.

"His biggest asset has been his mobility. The police here can't follow him around the world. When you are rich and you know the right people that also makes it more complicated."

"I just can't fathom how he could continue doing this." Carrie said in frustration.

"I understand how you feel, so many times, I've thought we had him and then he would somehow wriggle out of the net." Detective Galarza said as they headed towards the back door of the station.

He walked towards a beige, unmarked Ford near the rear of the parking lot. He opened the door for Carrie and then got into the car.

"So how long have you been working as a detective?" He asked just trying to make conversation.

Carrie blushed, "Actually this is my first case."

"I see, you apparently like challenges." He kidded.

"I worked in the Peace Corps for three years, this doesn't seem quite as bad." She replied trying to bolster her credentials to him.

"Unfortunately, I would like to say that things will get easier as you go along but I haven't found that to be the case."

"Detective, that's a beautiful watch you have," Carrie noted as he turned a corner.

"Thank you, my wife gave it to me. Spain is famous for its silver and my wife liked to spoil me."

Carrie became quiet, recalling that her mother had mentioned that Detective Galarza had lost his wife to crime.

Detective Galarza pulled the car up along the side of the road. He got out of the car and hurried over to open Carrie's door.

"This is as close as I can park to where the first victim was found." He said as they headed towards a dense wooded area and Carrie followed him up a small path.

She could understand why the location was chosen as it was remote and apparently even the path was not used much as tree branches and spider webs hung low brushing Carrie's cheek as she walked by. After walking for about a quarter of a mile, they stopped at a large boulder and rocky area that was out of place in the woods.

"This is where the Adriana Moreno's body was found. We believe that she had been tied to that tree over there and shot on this site. Although when her body was found she was not tied in any manner. It was just unnatural the way her arms ended up and she had some marks on her wrist that could have been caused by ropes," the detective explained.

"Is there anything around here? Are there any witnesses for any of the cases? If I recall correctly, it's believed that all the victims were killed in the place where there bodies were found?"

"Yes, from what we have been able to determine, the killings have all taken place at the sites where the bodies have been discovered and there has not been a single witness to any of the killings."

"This would have been good for uncovering some clues I would think. The ground is very soft and I would wager that it normally stays that way because of the shielding of sunlight by the trees. Even now in bright daylight, it is quite dark. I'm surprised there wasn't a shoe imprint or something. If Adriana had struggled, he would have had to exert force and that would have caused more of an indention in the ground." Carrie speculated.

"Actually that is a good point, there had been much rain in the days after Adriana's murder, she was also the person that took the longest to find. She had been dead nearly three days before her body was discovered. The others have all been found much more quickly."

"Who discovered her body out here?"

"It was a teen couple going for a hike. It was pretty distressing for them as the body was not in good shape."

"I can only imagine." Carrie said taking one more look around the surroundings. She pulled out a notebook and jotted down a few notes.

"Let me know when you are ready to go." Detective Galarza said as he leaned on a tree.

"I think that will do it." Carrie said flipping the notebook closed."

"I would have thought you were more of a blackberry person," he said as the headed back towards the car.

"Living in Guatemala made me come to appreciate the simple things of life like pen and paper. This works for me."

Back in the car, Carrie peppered him with some more questions about the case. Occasionally, she would jot down another note as he was speaking.

Detective Galarza's phone rang; he niftily pulled it from his pocket and flipped it open. After a quick greeting and a few "Si's," he ended the conversation abruptly.

"Ms. Allen, I'm sorry, there is something that I need to take care of, would it be alright if I showed you the other site tomorrow?"

"Please call me, Carrie, and actually that would be terrific. I think the jet lag is setting in and I could use a good night's rest."

"Carrie it is and please call me Marcello. I do apologize, I will try to make it up to you. Would you like me to drop you off at your hotel?"

"No, my car is back at the station."

"Very well, then I shall head back there. I do appreciate your understanding."

"No trouble really." Carrie emphasized trying to convince him that she really was not bothered by the change in plans.

He dropped her off by her car with plans to meet the following day at 9:00 a.m. and his cell number in case something came up. She returned to the hotel. She couldn't make up her mind whether she was hungry or not so she just headed down the hall and grabbed a candy bar and a Coke and returned to her room. After walking out onto the balcony and taking in the view she ate the rich, chocolate bar and finished off the Coke. She flipped on the T.V. and although she had slept on the plane, it still hadn't been a sound sleep and it wasn't long before she fell asleep to a badly dubbed episode of Mork and Mindy.

Carrie had woken up at 7:00, a full night's sleep behind her. She was now quite hungry and decided to call Detective Galarza to see if he might be interested in breakfast. After all, it was his town and he had wanted to make things up to her. He answered the phone quickly and Carrie spoke in Spanish. As it turned out breakfast was a good idea and he would be by shortly to pick her up.

"Good morning," she said as she got off the elevator and stepped into the hotel lobby where he was waiting.

He returned the greeting, "Good morning, you look well rested."

"I feel rested, so what's on the agenda for the day?"

"I have a nice little diner that I would like to take you to for breakfast that is right around the corner from here and then I will show you the other crime scene. If you are willing, I will also make arrangements for us to take the train to Perpignan to view the French site."

"Sure that's fine for me, but isn't this Sunday so shouldn't you have a day off or something?"

"I am free to go with you. We have some flexibility in our schedule so I will get another day off in the future to makeup for working today. I would do this any way, if there is any chance that something might lead to convicting Rousseau, I am happy to give up my time," he replied with conviction.

"Great then we can accomplish quite a lot today. I wonder how things are going at the party; they should be well into it by now." Carrie offered.

"Yes, Rousseau does enjoy beautiful women and if your associates are half as attractive as you, then I'm sure they have been approached by him."

"Thanks for the compliment, my colleagues aren't too shabby." Carrie joked. "So where are we off too?" She asked as they got into the beige Ford.

"Abuela's, it is right here," he said as the pulled up in front of a sturdy brick building with large windows.

"Grandma's huh, sounds like a good place for breakfast." Carrie commented.

They both talked easily, Marcello sometimes slipping into Spanish but Carrie never missed a beat.

"I am going to have the huevos con chorizo, it is the best in the city. Lola makes her own chorizo, it has a bit of a bite, but it is fantastic." Marcello praised as the waitress came to take their order.

"How can I go against such a recommendation? Tendré los huevos con chorizo y un café." Carrie said as she handed the menu to the waitress.

Marcello had told Carrie that he had one rule and that was no talking about work during a meal. He said that it wasn't good for the digestion and besides everyone needed a break from such depressing topics. So the breakfast conversation was filled with discussions of movies and music and places that each had traveled to. Although she realized that she was working, Carrie felt lucky that her contact person was both knowledgeable and charming. Perhaps under different circumstances, she may have been looking at Marcello Galarza with different eyes. Breakfast proved both spicy and filling but was delicious and Carrie ate heartily. When they finished, he paid for the meal even though Carrie protested.

Heading outside, the sun shone brightly and it was going to be hot. Still a steady ocean breeze was tempering the humidity.

"So did you enjoy your breakfast?" He asked as they got into the car.

"Very much, I won't need to eat again for the rest of the day, but it was terrific." Carrie replied.

"Time for work," he said glancing at his watch. "We're still early, it isn't even 9:00 yet."

"Don't let my mother know that, I have a reputation to keep up for never being on time." Carrie joked.

"You have been very punctual with me," Marcello pointed out.

"Yes, I can actually be on time when it is necessary."

As they drove, he pointed out many of the architectural features of the city as well as telling her of their history. There were a great many lovely churches throughout and Carrie had to keep reminding herself that she wasn't on a site seeing tour. Somehow it seemed wrong to be enjoying herself so much. They approached a beach area. Marcello parked the car and lead Carrie down a staircase that took her to a white sandy beach where a growing number of people were already basking in the sunshine. Marcello lead her down to an area where large, rocks broke the surf as the tide was beginning to come in.

This is where the other victim, Ana Juarez was discovered. Her body was wedged between two rocks here, Marcello said as he hopped up on one of the large stones and then offered his hand to Carrie to help her up.

"I was here with the recovery team when they found Ms Juarez. She hadn't been out here too long when she was discovered."

"This is quite a change from the first site. I mean it is so out in the open and it is crowded. How could he have murdered someone here without anyone knowing it?" Carrie questioned.

"On a warm summer day, the beach is crowded but on a cold rainy night it apparently wasn't except for Ms. Juarez and her killer. " Marcello explained.

"You said she had been discovered rather quickly after her murder. Who found her?"

"She was discovered by the guy who owns the souvenir shop up the hill. He often comes down here in the early morning in search of seashells and other things that he can sell to the tourists."

"Isn't Ana Juarez the only one of the victims who had any unidentified D.N.A. on her?" Carrie asked trying to recall if she had the correct victim."

"That is correct. She had some skin cell tissue under a couple of her nails. The D.N.A. did not match Rousseau's but the skin may not have been a result of the murder. Ana was remarkably free of bruises, cuts or scratches. She had the highest concentration of valium in her bloodstream as well as alcohol so although we are not entirely certain whether the other victims were conscious or not when they were killed, the coroner here believed that Ana was unconscious during the killing."

Carrie gazed at the expanse of ocean in front of her and felt the spray of the sea on her face. She could just not wrap her mind around the hideous crime that had taken place in this lovely area. Carrie jumped down from the rock and spun around to offer her hand to Marcello.

"I'm fine but thanks for the offer." He said jumping down from the rock and heading back towards the car.

When they had started on his way he began to speak. "I took the liberty of getting our train tickets online last night. I hope that you don't mind."

"No, how much do I owe you?"

"It was a couple of hundred euros. I'm sure you can put it on your expense account?"

"Yes, I thought train travel here was cheap." Carrie commented.

"It is for long journeys and when you have planned far in advance. Unfortunately we didn't have such luxuries, although your pass will be good for an additional 4 days should you still be here."

"I figured we could travel to the area, check it out and be back later tonight. I hope that is alright with you?" Marcello explained.

"Sure that's fine, I'm sure the sooner I can get back, the better so this is perfect." Carrie agreed.

They arrived at the station about an hour before their departure and Marcello chatted about some of the things that they would see on there way to Perpignan. They made their way to the boarding area, making a stop at customs to have their passports checked. The trip would take about two hours he explained. They boarded the train and Carrie was impressed with the smoothness of the ride and also the quiet steady rhythm.

Carrie sat across from Marcello on the train as it sped quickly through the countryside. He was typing away on his laptop, his mind seemingly miles away. Carrie couldn't help but feel sorry for him as he ceaselessly worked. She had also used work to banish her own demons. After an hour or so, Marcello closed up the computer and chatted amiably about his trips to the United States and also his memories of traveling by train to visit his grandparents as a young boy. Carrie found him to be fine company and she once again was feeling guilty for enjoying what was essentially work.

When they arrived in Perpignan, Marcello hailed a cab and instructed him where to go. Carrie stepped out of the taxi looking around at an area that was very similar to the last one that she had visited. Rocky outcrops stretched into the Mediterranean Sea. Marcello told the cab to wait.

"It was over here." He said walking to the end of a long flat rock. "The actual spot where the body was found is now submerged, by morning it will be revealed again.

Carrie observed that the tide was rolling in. "The time of death was early morning if I recall correctly?"

"Yes that's right. Her name was Louisa Boulanger"

"I'm not really sure if this is going to help but I'm certainly surprised at the boldness of the killer. Firing so many shots in the open like that, it takes nerve. The guy definitely gets off on being bold." She commented.

"I don't think there is anyway to know what his motive might be."

"No, I guess not, but they all have a reason in their own twisted minds."

They headed back to the taxi and Marcello directed him back to the train station.

"It seems almost a sin to take you to France and not invite you to dinner." He commented to Carrie. "But the last train this evening is in a little over an hour. Still we might be able to catch a quick bite at the café just outside the depot."

"Coffee would be perfect; I'm actually still full from breakfast."

They stopped at the café and through out some ideas about Rousseau's possible motives. They also discussed the victims. Marcello knew each of them so well and Carrie sensed that it hurt him deeply to discuss them. They had become quite familiar to him. Once back on the train, Carrie found herself dozing off as Marcello once again went to work on his laptop. When they arrived at the station, Marcello gently nudged her; Carrie could hardly believe that the trip had ended. He then took her back to her hotel.

"When are you leaving?" He asked as they approached the hotel."

"I'm going to call my boss up tonight. She may want me back tomorrow, but I think Tuesday is probably realistic."

"Then would you mind having dinner with me, tomorrow evening if you do remain in town?" He asked.

"Well I was hoping to have a look at some of the original crime scene photos as well as any of your private notes. We seem to be missing some items in the packets that we have."

"I will be happy to let you take a look. Then we will forget all this death and enjoy the evening."

"That sounds perfect. When would you like me to stop by?"

"How about mid afternoon, then you can look at the items and we can head off to dinner after that." He suggested

"Perfect, thanks for all your help and your time. You never know when something that didn't seem important at the time will turn out to be important later on."

"Yes, how true. Have a good night's rest and I will see you tomorrow." He said pulling up in front of the main hotel doors.

Carrie called her mother when she arrived at the hotel room. She reported on what she had seen and told her of her plans to look at some of the documents tomorrow. Although trying not to extol Marcello's virtues too much, Kelly could tell that her daughter was very fond of the Spanish detective. She would be happy to have her return home on Tuesday. Kelly also let Carrie know that Susan had managed to get a date with Rousseau and that things seemed to be clicking on their end.

The next day, Carrie took a cab over to the police station. Marcello had called to say that he would like to pick her up but that he was being asked to consult on another case. Still he left the files out on his desk and would be in the office shortly. The officer at the desk had been alerted to look for her and she was let into the back. She sat at Marcello's desk, paging through the documents, most of which she was already quite familiar with. About an hour after she started looking through the files, Marcello arrived. He pointed out a few odd details from each case as they paged through things for yet another hour. By that time, Carrie was feeling overwhelmed as she viewed the pages of mayhem. There was so much circumstantial evidence and yet not any single undeniable proof that Rousseau was the killer of any of the girls. When Marcello finally suggested that they quit and head off to dinner, Carrie was more than willing to go

Carrie and Marcello entered the centuries old building. It was a majestic edifice sitting on a hill overlooking the ocean.

"This is beautiful and the views are outstanding." Carrie commented to him.

"I'm glad that you like it. I enjoy seeing things through new eyes. I have come to this place since I was a young boy and I sometimes forget its charm."

"Buenas noches señor y señorita, "

¿ "le Hace desea un asiento en el comedor o el patio"? The waiter asked their seating preference.

"El patio hace maravilloso" Marcello replied opting for the outdoor view.

"Me sigue".the maitre de replied taking two menus with him and showed them to their table.

Having only been at their seats momentarily, Carrie and Marcello were surprised that the waiter appeared so quickly.

¿"Hola, qué se llama Enrique, le puedo conseguir beber"? The server asked for their drink order.

¿"Qué recomienda usted"? Carrie asked Marcello.

"La sangría es sobresaliente".

"Tendré un vidrio de la sangría." Carrie ordered the rich, fruity wine.

¿"Muy bueno, y usted señor"? The waiter now turning his attentions to Marcello.

"Sí, tendré la sangría también." Marcello also choosing the sangria which he had recommended to Carrie.

With that the waiter took his leave, returning shortly with two glasses of deep red wine garnished with an apple and pineapple slice. Carrie took a small sip and was obviously pleased with her beverage. She looked out over the ocean, its beautiful azure expanse seeming to go on forever. "I can't imagine a more beautiful setting, thank you for being such a gracious host." She commented to Marcello.

"Please forgive me for being so bold, but Carrie, you are so very beautiful. You are like this view bright and unspoiled. It doesn't seem possible that you want to be involved in such dark things."

"Marcello, thank you, but I hope to be the one who stops the darkness. I can't just sit back and do nothing if I know that I can help to make things better. You must feel the same way."

"I once did before I saw too much. I lost my soul to this kind of work. I wouldn't want the same to happen to you."

"My mother has been a detective for many years, she has managed to balance the good with the bad." Carrie explained as she thought of how much her mother had always tried to be positive about her work.

"She would not feel the same if she lost you. Nothing ever can prepare a parent for the loss of their child. I have seen Rafael Rousseau take the lives of too many parents' children and I am glad that you are here to help me put a stop to it."

"I'll do my best. I will give the information to my colleagues and we'll see if there is anything that jumps out at us. What do you recommend that I try?"

"I would suggest the paella. Being on the sea affords us its bounty and the chef here has the most amazing sauce for the shellfish."

"I will take your recommendation and try that. The sangría is very good as well. Thank you for suggesting it."

"It is always best to eat the specialties of the area that you are in."

The waiter took their orders as they talked in generalizations. He returned to the table carrying separate casseroles filled with shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, and a whole lobster. Marcello had been spot on in his recommendations. Carrie enjoyed the meal and the conversation. She was becoming fond of Detective Galarza.

After leaving the restaurant, they walked along the beach and Marcello told her of how he used to repair the nets on his father's fishing boat. He had always enjoyed the sea, but he knew that he wanted to do more than be a fisherman, so he followed in his uncle's footsteps and became a police officer. Then the conversation turned to a topic that Carrie had been curious about, that of his wife and her death.

"Carrie, I have enjoyed this evening so much," he said as they walked towards his car.

"Me too," she replied honestly.

"No, I don't think you know how much I have enjoyed this. It is actually the first time since my wife's death that I have enjoyed such an evening. I did not think it would ever be possible." Marcello said as he entered the car and began to drive.

"How long has it been since your wife's death?" Carrie asked cautiously.

"It has been over a decade. She was very beautiful, my Anita and our daughter was her mirror image," he replied with obvious pride.

"I am sorry about what happened. I lost my fiancée to violence as well." Carrie offered sympathetically.

"So the darkness has already touched you."

"My fiancée was killed by the military in Guatemala."

"My wife and daughter were killed by a random shooting in a market. Some insane man got a weapon and decided to shoot up a marketplace. Three other people were wounded but both my daughter and wife were killed. My wife tried to shield our daughter, but it didn't prevent our girl's death. Since then, I have been a shadow not really a living human being any more."

"Welcome back to the living." Carrie said as they neared her hotel.

"Yes, this night feels very much like a renaissance for me."

"I'm glad; you have too much to offer to exist solely as a shadow." Carrie replied with a smile.

"Well, we have arrived at your destination." He said pulling up alongside the curb.

Carrie hesitated for a moment. "Would you like to come in for a drink or some coffee?" She asked not willing to let the night end.

"How could a resist a request from you? Sure that would be wonderful. Let me go park across the way."

They parked the car and then walked across the street from the parking ramp to the hotel. Apparently, the Townsend Agency was doing well because Carrie's accommodations were first class. They entered her room which was quite ornate with plush chairs, fine drapes and gilded light fixtures and mirrors.

"I should have become a private detective." Marcello joked as they entered the opulent room.

"You should see my house back home, far more demure." Carrie explained.

"I have the feeling that any room that you were in would have a certain grace about it." He complimented her as she blushed.

"Thank you, would you like coffee or something stronger?" She asked feeling a bit awkward in spite of his compliment"

"I would like some coffee, I've already had more alcohol than I normally do," he said justifying his choice.

Carrie headed over to the small kitchenette and began the coffeemaker before returning to the sitting room where Marcello was seated on the couch. She came over and sat beside him. They were both quiet, trying to size up the situation.

"Would you like to see the balcony?" Carrie asked getting up and heading towards the double doors.

"Sure I would love to see the balcony." Marcello commented as he followed her, but just as she was about to open the door, he stepped in front of her and began to kiss her. He stopped for a moment and looked into her eyes; there he saw some apprehension but also excitement and interest. She returned the kiss and put her arms around him. His kisses although gentle were filled with desire and Carrie longed to feel the security of his arms around her. Confusion and desire were mixed within her. She felt at odds within herself craving the physical comfort of being with a man, yet knowing that things were moving far too quickly. Still his impassioned kisses were overriding her mental arguments. His hands moved to the buttons on her shirt, deftly he opened them, removing the blouse, he began to touch and caress her. She leaned in closer to him, kissing him more intensely, wanting him. The thought came to her that perhaps it was their shared sense of loss that had brought the two of them together. She felt for the buttons on his shirt as their lips never left one another. He guided her to the couch where she reclined. He removed his shirt and slipped alongside of her. He returned to kissing her, pent up yearning evident in each kiss. There was no longer any way to deny the overwhelming desire that each felt for the other. Marcello positioned himself above her and began to slide the straps of her bra down past her shoulder, but this simple act made Carrie recall another night. She suddenly pulled away from him, pushing him to the side and sat up quickly readjusting the bra strap.

"I'm sorry Marcello. I can't go through with this. I don't mean to hurt you. It isn't that I don't want to"

Marcello looked at her with wounded eyes, but replied in gentlemanly fashion, "No, I understand, it was a bit rushed. I apologize."

"There's no need for an apology. I've just got some issues to work through. Oh I wish I hadn't asked you here. I've ruined what was a splendid evening."

"Carrie, it is all right. I only ask that you don't think me too bold. I was taken in by your beauty and your compassion. If you give me another chance, I think we can overcome this."

"Of course, I would be happy to see you again. I'm just going to need a much slower pace, I'm afraid."

"Then I'll be going, but I will look forward to seeing you again before you leave. Perhaps, I may see you soon. I am planning on vacationing to California shortly."

"Yes, I will definitely see you before I go and I would love to see you when you visit California."

"Then goodnight Carrie," he said kissing her softly on the cheek.

"Buenos noches, Marcello." Carrie replied as he put his shirt back on and headed out the door.

As Carrie's day was ending in a manner she could not have envisioned. Susan was about to embark on her first date with Rafael Rousseau.

Rafael picked up Susan in his black Porsche convertible. They made their way through relatively light traffic to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Rafael walked with Susan throughout the galleries. He was very knowledgeable about many of the art forms. They spent a great deal of time in the Impressionist galleries and debated who was the greater painter, Monet or Renoir. Then they pondered the meanings of the Picasso's and Chagall's. It was a spirited conversation that Susan found herself enjoying. Every now and then she would have to remind herself that this man was a cold blooded killer. Dinner was to follow the day's excursion and Susan was beginning to feel guilty for the satisfying day. Still perhaps he would slip up at some point and that would be the key to breaking open the case. Until then all she could do was continue to play along. Susan wondered if the victims of Rafael Rousseau had also found him so charming and that no sense of danger ever stirred in their hearts when they were with him. Had she known nothing of him and had simply met him at her mother's party, she would be thinking of white gowns and china patterns.

He had selected One Pico as the restaurant of choice. It was in a lovely location in Santa Monica and Susan and he began what would prove to be a most entertaining if not enchanting night. He certainly did not come across as a man with anything to hide. He spoke easily and confidently and they never seemed to be lacking for a subject. There was none of the usual first date awkwardness that so often plagued these things. He was well traveled and his knowledge came from experience if not his studies. He was interested in her mom and the struggles she had to go through as a female racecar driver, and Susan was more than happy to share her pride in her mother's accomplishments.

"I could drop you off at home." He offered as they sat by the window sharing a dessert and finishing off a bottle of wine.

"It's still early. I'm having a really good time." Susan emphasized the really and added a sly, sexy smile.

"I'm having a great time as well; I think you are a very special woman Miss Munroe." He proceeded to flatter and then reached down to kiss her.

He was handsome and very smooth and Susan wanted to believe in his innocence. Still her job tonight was to get into the house and have a look around.

"Perhaps, we could have a look around your place." Susan encouraged.

"I would love nothing more, but I'm afraid I have a meeting with my speech writers and then a flight out tonight. I'm going to San Diego to speak at a conference with Hispanic businessmen. We are trying to increase imports of goods to your country instead of just olives." He joked.

"You keep late hours, are you sure there isn't a girlfriend or a wife hanging around?" Susan teased.

"I'm quite sure, I was supposed to do my rehearsing earlier today, but I delayed it so I could spend the day with you."

"So when will you be back?" Susan asked interestedly.

"I will be back in a couple of days, actually Wednesday morning to be exact." Rafael explained.

"I hope we can see each other when you return?" She asked with an encouraging smile.

"You can count on it, but now let me take you home and we'll have started our relationship in a wonderful way." He replied as he bent over and kissed her again.

The car ride home was full of conversation about the day and Susan found herself wondering if she had no instincts at all because Rafael seemed effortlessly charming and sincere. She had managed to score another date with him and this time she would also see his home.

Carrie checked out early in the morning and was not looking forward to her long flight. Still she was grateful for just two layovers which were supposed to be short. She realized that she could use the rest on the flight back as she hadn't slept well the night before. She would also be gaining time as L.A. was 9 hours behind Spanish time. She felt a sense of anger and confusion about the events of the previous night. Anger at herself for hurting a man who was already filled with hurt and confusion about whether she would ever be able to have a normal with relationship with a man again.

Kelly entered the office where Tina was sitting quietly typing away on her laptop.

"You had quite the date for the party." Kelly commented.

"Yes, he's quite handsome isn't he?" Tina replied.

"So is he part of the reason that you didn't mind returning to California?" Kelly teased.

"I love Paul, I really do. He's a great buddy but the fact that he's gay sort of puts a damper on the romance issue."

"I see, I certainly wouldn't have guessed."

"Only a few people know, he hasn't even come out to his family yet. He says since he doesn't have a partner, he doesn't feel the need to announce his sexuality. I'm sort of his beard if you will. Whenever he needs someone to attend a wedding with, he asks me. The party was a payback for me."

"Actually Tina, I have a favor to ask of you, Carrie's plane is going to be landing in a couple of hours. I've got a few things to catch up on, would you mind picking her up at the airport?"

Tina looked up at Kelly suspiciously, "Sure, I can pick up Carrie. I mean, I know how thrilled she will be to see me after a long flight."

Kelly just smiled innocently and thanked Tina as she took a seat at her desk and began to look over some possible future cases. Perhaps forcing the two together was a bad idea but better to find out early on. Tina finished typing and gave Kelly a suspicious smile as she headed out the door.

When Carrie stepped out into the concourse and headed toward the luggage carousel, Tina had a tough time getting over to her because of the crowds of people.

"Hey Carrie," she said a little out of breath as she reached her.

"Oh hey," Carrie replied not having expected to see Tina. "Is my mom o.k.?" She asked nervous that Tina was there in her stead.

"Yeah, she's fine; she just had something to do so she asked if I wouldn't mind picking you up."

"I see, well thanks for coming. I'm not really in the mood to deal with a cab tonight."

After her luggage was collected, Carrie and Tina made their way to Tina's car. Carrie had spoken little, other than to politely answer a few of Tina's questions about her flight.

When they finally made it to the highway, Carrie remained quiet just staring out the window.

"I bet your feeling pretty tired from such a long flight?" Tina remarked trying to break the silence.

"Actually weary from the travel but I actually slept quite a bit on the plane."

"Did you find anything while you were in Spain?"

\ "I wrote down a lot of descriptions of the areas where the victims were found, and I got a better sense of what happened to them. I'm just not sure if I found anything concrete.

"Did you meet with Galarza?"

"Yes, I worked quite closely with him."

"Did you have a chance to examine any of his reports on the case?"

"I did." Carrie's answer was abrupt.

"Did you think that the reports were somewhat lacking or even that something seemed missing?" Tina wondered.

"I thought the reports covered what they needed to." Carrie responded defensively.

"I just thought it odd that all of the reports were written by him and that they all seemed to have these weird breaks and sometimes it seemed to be leading one way and then the section would veer off in another direction. Officer Galarza doesn't seem very organized to me."

"Tina, we all can't be you. Sometimes people do the best jobs that they can. This man has kept this case alive. He's pursued this bastard when other people didn't want to deal with it." Carrie snapped back.

"Hey sorry, I was just making some observations."

"Yeah, well maybe the flight has tired me out more than I thought it did."

They remained in the car another twenty minutes before arriving at Carrie's house. After a quick exchange of goodbyes, Carrie went into the house. Setting her suitcases down, she settled for a long bath. The more she thought about Tina's comments, the more she regretted what she had said. She had noticed the odd closures of some of the reports, still after having spent time with him, she knew the man and she knew that he had worked too hard to solve these cases to have his integrity questioned.

The next morning, Carrie was awakened by the sound of the phone.

"Hello," she answered groggily.

"Hello Carrie, I'm assuming you are not on your way yet since I'm talking to you on your home phone." Her mom's voice came through sounding a tad annoyed.

"What time is it?" She asked looking toward her alarm clock.

"9:15 Carrie, you were supposed to be here at 9:00." Kelly continued with the annoyed tone.

"I'm sorry, I'll be there as quick as I can." She replied as she hopped out of bed.

After a quick change, she headed to her garage. She beeped the door open and slid into the driver's seat. She thought she could make it without coffee, but decided to hit the Starbucks on the way in. When she turned the key, the engine started a little rough, but before long she was heading out into a perfect California day. Then she heard a clicking sound and the car died at a stop light. She tried repeated attempts to restart but it was a no go. She put the car in neutral, got out and managed to get it over to the curb. She dialed triple A and waited. They would send a tow truck shortly. She then called her mother. This was not her day because, on top of everything else, Kelly had decided to cancel the meeting and to send Tina along to pick her up from the mechanic. Carrie was wondering if her day could get any worse. Once the tow truck came and she cozied up with Jethro and Bucky in the front of the tow truck, she knew that it had. She called Tina to let her know what garage they had ended up at and waited for more cross examination with Tina.

Since waking up, two hours had passed as Carrie sat waiting for Tina to arrive. When she did, she hoped that she would not have to hear more commentary about Officer Galarza's sloppy police reports. As it turned out Tina had something else in mind.

"Since we're both free this afternoon, I was wondering if you'd be willing to go work out. I really want to learn some techniques for self preservation." Tina requested trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm not really in the mood to go to the gym right now." Carrie mumbled obviously still displeased.

"We could go to my house, I have a gym set up, thought it might be a good idea to get into better shape."

"Do I have any other options? You are driving and you did volunteer to pick me up so I guess I'm pretty much obliged to do what you like." Carrie grumbled.

"Come on now, Carrie, it won't be so bad. I'll go easy on you." Tina joked.

"Fine, maybe it would be a good idea to blow off some steam." Carrie retorted as the thought of working out became more appealing.

"Great, you can see my house, it isn't quite furnished yet, but it's getting there."

Tina turned down a palm tree line street and headed towards the end of the block. The houses weren't mansions but they were large, and upscale. She turned in a drive and headed up to the gate, punched in some numbers on a keypad on her visor and the gate gently opened. They headed up the drive and Carrie was a bit awed by Tina's living quarters.

"Not bad, I guess I should have paid more attention to math class when I was in school." Carrie commented as they parked in the back.

"Do you like it? I'm not sure I do. It is a bit much but I got it at a good price and I liked the security that it has."

"Yes, it is very impressive," Carrie said as she looked over the pool, and followed Tina inside the house.

"Would you like something to drink?" Tina offered as they entered the kitchen.

"No, if we're going to work out, I'd just as soon wait."

"Good plan, let me show you the gym."

They headed down a hallway off the living area passing a few doors before entering the room at the end of the hall. It was large, and had a variety of weight and other exercise equipment. There were also numerous padded mats dotting the floor.

"There should be some extra workout clothes in the closet." "Tina pointed to the corner. There's also a room to change right behind that door."

"Thanks, I'll go change." Carrie said as she headed towards the back of the room. Tina stepped out and headed to her bedroom to change.

When Tina returned to the room, Carrie was already busily kicking at the workout bag.

"Hey are you willing to let me try out some of the things that I've been working on?" Tina asked as Carrie hadn't bothered to slow up her kicks.

"Sure, as long as I get my shot afterwards." Carrie replied almost menacingly.

"Here put these on." Tina said handing Carrie some padding and padded gloves.

They moved over to the mat and faced each other. Tina set her feet as Carrie had showed her previously and then proceeded to hit and kick at the pads. Carrie would move trying to force Tina to make adjustments which she was easily doing. Carrie had to admit that Tina had made great strides. Yet with each kick, Carrie found herself becoming more annoyed.

"See if you can move me off the mat, don't aim for the pads." She said to Tina.

Tina began to throw punches and attempted a few kicks but each one was block by Carrie who hadn't moved even an inch backwards. Not willing to concede Tina continued to hurl both kicks and punches at Carrie and still she gained no advantage. Finally, as Tina was kicking furiously, Carrie moved to the side just slightly and sent Tina crashing forward.

"Now let me show you how it is done." Carrie said throwing down the pads to Tina who was still lying on the mat.

Tina got up without saying a word and put on the pads, then stood across from Carrie.

"Are you ready?" Carrie asked focusing all her attention on Tina.

"As I'll ever be, I guess." Tina replied with a sigh.

Carrie began slowly throwing a few kicks that Tina deflected, but she had already got Tina to shift her feet, moving uneasily from side to side. Then came the barrage, feet and fists that seemed to be everywhere and Tina was in full out retreat backing up and hoping that Carrie would relent, when she didn't Tina surrendered.

"O.K. you win," she said as she could sense that she was getting close to the wall and there would be nowhere else to go.

But Carrie said nothing, her focus solely on destroying her opponent. She landed a punch that sent Tina down to the mat. With that Carrie ceased, turned around and began to walk away.

"What the hell was that all about?" Tina yelled angrily as she got back to her feet.

"Just wanted to make sure you could still bleed." Carrie replied smugly as she continued to walk without looking back.

Tina now furious, charged at her but Carrie anticipated the attack and blocked it without much effort.

"Don't you know when you've had enough?" Carrie said facing Tina.

"No, I can take anything that you throw at me."

"I doubt that. I'll be leaving your pristine prison now. Thanks for the workout." Carrie flippantly replied.

"You're not leaving until this is finished." Tina commanded defiantly.

"And you're going to stop me?" Carrie responded her tone full of derision.

"I don't want to fight you, I just want to know what's going on. We can't work together if we're constantly bickering." Tina said grabbing Carrie by the arm.

"Let go of me," Carrie said her tone indicating that she wasn't kidding. She took a swipe at Tina, which she deflected. Then Carrie attempted a roundhouse kick, Tina caught her foot and threw her to the ground. Carrie looked up dazed not so much from the impact but from her disbelief that Tina had actually managed to get her off her feet.

"Can we please just talk about this?" Tina lamented as Carrie had grown quiet.

"There's nothing to say anymore, Tina. We were friends as kids, things change when you get older."

"I know I shut you out a long time ago, I wish I could explain why, but I can't even explain it to myself so how could I explain it to anyone else. I didn't consciously make the choice to leave you out. It just sort of happened that way. I know that I hurt a lot of people including you, but I can tell you that it wasn't an intentional slight. I was just so angry and frustrated that I thought it better to stay away from people. I thought that maybe this job would help me to reconnect with you and force me to deal with people again." Tina explained.

"Tina, you just can't ignore someone for years and think that you can pick up where you left off. It doesn't work that way."

"You're right, but I don't know how else to start over. I still think of you as my best friend even though we've hardly spoken in the last five years." Tina revealed.

The comment struck a nerve with Carrie and she had to admit that she felt likewise. "Oddly enough I can say the same thing. Do you remember the day I called you from Guatemala? I left a message; I was going to ask you to be the maid of honor at my wedding."

"I tried to call the next day, but you already had left, there was no answer." Tina clarified.

"No, I was there when the call came in; I could hear your message as I walked outside and found Alejandro dead. I swear that it was your voice that got me through that day. I think I would have taken a gun and killed myself if I hadn't known there were others who had felt the same kind of loss. Carrie replied all traces of anger vanishing from her face.

"I'm sorry I didn't do more when I heard of his death. I honestly didn't know what I could do." Tina replied sincerely.

Carrie looked away and swallowed hard, fighting back tears.

"Hey, it's o.k.; I know how hard it is to deal with the death of someone close to you." Tina replied soothingly.

"No it isn't just that, it was just the death of so many other things including most of my hopes for the future." Carrie replied losing her battle to control her tears.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but you're still young with lots of time ahead of you. You'll find someone else." Tina tried to be reassuring but was surprised by the sudden change in Carrie.

"Tina, you might be right but what happened that night will never leave me no matter what happens in my future. Going to Spain just made me remember so much about that night. Even though Marcello chose to speak English, Spanish was all around me and I hadn't been in that environment since Alejandro's death."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tina asked gently.

"I've never told anyone here the full story of what happened that night."

"Not even your mom?" Tina asked surprised.

"No, she was already so worried about how Alejandro's death would affect me that the rest of it would have just made her more overprotective than she already was. I knew that I would never be going back so it didn't make sense to burden her with it."

"She used to call my mom frequently when you were there, she was always quite concerned. So what happened?" Tina said as she sat beside Carrie on the mat.

"I had just gotten back to Guatemala; I had been home for a short visit. On my visit here, I hadn't been feeling well and I'm surprised that my mom didn't notice. As it turned out, I was pregnant. I was happy; thrilled actually, but I didn't tell mom because I know she would have preferred things to have been done in the proper order. Anyway, when I got back I told Alejandro and he was equally thrilled. He asked me to marry him a few days later when he had purchased a ring. I was so happy, I called mom to tell her and then I called you. That night, we had dinner like we had been for months, he still lived with his family, but he would often stay until late. My roommate was visiting a friend that day and had decided to stay the night with them. As Alejandro and I sat down to dinner we heard cars nearby, this was never good thing because it usually meant the military, at least in the rural area where we were. There was a knock at the door and 7 or 8 uniformed men asked Alejandro to go outside, I wanted to go with him, but he wouldn't hear of it. I stayed inside and heard the gunfire. I wanted to run to him but I knew it was already too late. I knew what had happened. Then I heard the cars leaving and I was just frozen staring at the door unable to move. Then the door opened and the commanding officer walked in, he was alone. I knew what his intention was. He had his gun and ordered me to go into the bedroom. I was hesitant, disbelieving that this was all happening. He slapped me hard and from then on I did what he told me to do. I was so in shock that the thought of fighting back seemed impossible. I went into the bedroom and sat on the bed and he sat down beside me and began to kiss me." Carrie continued taking a deep breath trying to regain her composure.

"You don't have to go any further if you don't want to?" Tina offered putting her arm around Carrie's shoulder.

"No, I've got to tell someone." Carrie continued. "Anyway he began to get more forceful ordering me to take off my shirt, he removed his uniform jacket, then his belt. Finally he pinned me to the bed and began to slide my bra strap down my shoulder. I attempted to get up and he slapped me again. For some reason that blow angered me. It made me think that I could fight back. He knelt over me fumbling with his pants, I managed to catch him off balance and knocked him to the floor and he dropped the gun. He scrambled towards it, but I got to it first and I shot him once in the chest, but he wasn't dead so I shot him again to make sure that he was. I still don't know if what I did was right."

"Carrie, how horrible, I'm so sorry but don't burden yourself, with any guilt over shooting him, you acted in self defense."

"Yes, that's what I keep telling myself. Right afterwards, I got up and put my shirt back on, that's when I stumbled towards the door and went outside. It was then that you called and I heard your voice as I saw Alejandro lying in the yard. I checked for a pulse but he was already cool and I knew that he was dead. I attempted to go back inside and answer the phone, but I'm not sure I would have been able to speak if I had reached it in time."

"Do you know why they came, were you and Alejandro some kind of threat to them?" Tina asked trying to see the logic behind the violence.

"No, apparently the captain, the man that I killed, found me attractive and because of that, he wanted Alejandro out of the way. I had never even spoken to him before that day. He saw me arriving at the airport a few days before."

"How did you get out of the country?"

"I walked that night to Alejandro's mother's house which was the only thing that I could think of doing. If I had been caught on that road, I would have been killed, but I honestly didn't care at that point. So I walked the mile in the darkness and came upon the house. It was dark except for a light in the kitchen. Alejandro's mother never went to sleep until he arrived home. I hesitantly knocked on the door, and she came quickly and opened the door. I was a mess, I had more blood on me than I realized and I could hardly speak. I had been speaking Spanish for years, I had even begun to dream in the language and yet now I could barely form a sentence. I told her that Alejandro had been killed and by this time his father, brother and sister were in the living room. I honestly don't remember anything else. Apparently I passed out, I also began to hemorrhage. Alejandro's brother, Xavier got the doctor, and when I woke up in the morning, the doctor told me that I had miscarried."

"Oh Carrie, I'm sorry." Tina replied quietly.

"Now this is where the story gets weird. One of the men who had come the night before came by Alejandro's mother's house. He told her that the men would swear that it was Alejandro who had killed the captain. Thus clearing me of the captain's death. I would be allowed to leave . Apparently, the captain was not well loved among his men and most were happy that he was dead. It would also bring less attention if an American wasn't involved. Still I didn't want Alejandro's family to feel any repercussions as a result of this. The man replied that he would make sure that the family would be left alone. Whether he could be believed or not was another thing. Alejandro's mother was the one who talked me into agreeing. She saw no reason for me to take the blame when I had just been defending myself. That day I spoke with my boss from the Peace Corps and he arranged for me to come home."

"I had no idea; I'm glad that you told me. I'm sure it wasn't easy." Tina replied quietly.

"It's a relief to finally let someone know."

"I wish that I could do something to change the situation." Tina said trying to find some words of comfort.

"There's nothing that can be done, but I would appreciate it, if you could give Marcello a break. I'm telling you that he is a good man and that the discrepancies that you found will be explained." Carrie asked with confidence.

"Carrie, believe me, I would be so happy if that is the case. Just don't rush into anything before we know for sure. I don't know about you, but I'm a little hungry and I could definitely use a drink." Tina said as she got to her feet.

"That would work for me as well. Got any ideas?" Carrie said as she took Tina's hand and stood up.

"I'm sure I have no food here, there's an Irish pub near the garage that we dropped your car off at." Tina said as she started to walk towards the door.

"Sure if anyone knows how to drink properly, it's the Irish." Carrie replied with a laugh.

They changed back into their regular clothes and made their way to the pub. Molly Malone's felt like it had been taken off a street corner in Dublin and plunked down in L.A. The outside was painted dark, emerald green and inside the walls were paneled with dark woods that matched the wood of the bar. The tables were rustic looking, with an occasional area worn down from the countless elbows who had taken rest there. A lone, guitarist played something mellow in the background but there were others setting up instruments beside him, as Tina and Carrie grabbed a table. There were a few customers at the bar and the tables were half full as a fellow wearing a green polo showed up to take their order.

"Hello ladies, what would you like to drink?" A waiter in a dark green polo shirt asked as he approached the table.

"What would you recommend?" Tina asked.

"Well it depends if you're here to celebrate or here to drown your sorrows." He replied with a mischievous grin.

"Both," came Tina's and Carrie's reply nearly simultaneously.

"In that case you should both start with a shot of Jameson's Irish Whiskey. It will make everything seem a little better. Now I would recommend a thistle and shamrock for you ma'am and a San Patricios for you." He said pointing first to Carrie and then to Tina

"And what would those be?" Carrie asked having never heard of either one.

"A thistle and shamrock is an Irish lager called Beamish mixed with a Scottish lager called McEwans."

"Did you say Beamish?" Carrie asked curiously.

"Yes, it's becoming quite popular here." The waiter replied.

"I better keep my mother away from here." She said in an aside to Tina. "You know that sounds great, let me try the shamrock and the thistle and what was the San Patricios?"

"That's Corona mixed with Guinness, it is one of our most popular drinks."

"Sure I'm game to try it." Tina replied.

"Great I'll get started on those; did you want the shots as well?"

"Yeah, bring those too." Carrie replied quickly.

In no time he returned with the beverages.

"Have you decided what you wanted to eat?"

"I'll have the fish and chips." Tina replied handing him her menu.

"I'll have the Molly burger, medium well." Carrie said as he wrote down the order on a pad.

When the waiter left, Tina picked up the shot glass and offered a toast. "To fresh beginnings," she offered as Carrie joined her in clanking the small glasses.

They both downed the shot and were surprised at how smoothly it went down.

"Well that was pretty good, let's see what the beers are like." Carrie said as she picked up the glass. She too offered a toast. "To old friendships."

Tina smiled as she tapped the glass, it was the best she had felt in a long time. Two more beers, four shots and three hours later, they both realized that they would not be able to drive home and that they had completely forgotten to pick up Carrie's car.

"Should I call a cab?" Tina asked knowing that it would be the easiest way to get home.

"We could, what if we called Brianne and Susan to see if they wanted to join us?"

"Susan can't, she's got a date with what's his name." Tina said trying to recall the name

"Rafael." Carrie replied jubilantly after having to think for a moment about the name.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Here let me call Brianne." Carrie said taking out her phone.

The phone only rang once when Brianne picked up.

"Hey, what were you waiting for a call or something?" Carrie said surprised at how quickly Brianne picked up.

"Where are you, some auto mechanic called the office and said you didn't pick up your car?"

"Yeah, I kind of forgot to do that. Was my mom there when he called?"

"No, she had just left, I tried to call you but I got no answer, I've been trying to reach Tina as well."

"Tina is with me. I was working out and I turned my phone off, I forgot to put it back on. Tina forgot her phone at home. Hey the reason I called, I was just wondering if you wanted to swing by Molly Malone's that Irish pub over on Fairfax. Tina and I have been celebrating and drowning our sorrows, thought you might like to join us."

"Well it sounds like the sorrows are well drowned already, but I'll stop by. I take it that you could use a ride home as well?"

"That would be a great idea." Carrie replied earnestly.

"I'll see you in a little bit." Brianne replied then flipped her phone shut.

Twenty minutes later, Brianne walked into the pub. She saw Tina sitting at the table alone and headed over to her.

"Where's Carrie?" She asked.

Tina said nothing just nodded towards the stage. "She thought they should reenact Lord of the Dance so she volunteered to be one of the dancers."

"One, she's the only one?" Brianne pointed out the obvious.

"Well, at least she's having a good time, and she won't remember it in the morning." Tina commented.

"How much have you had to drink?" Brianne questioned.

"I lost count." Tina replied honestly.

"That's never good."

"Do you want me to get the waiter, so he can get you something?" Tina asked.

"No, I'm fine; you remember that we have to be at the office tomorrow at 9:00 right?

"Oh yeah, that's going to be rough." Tina said remembering the scheduled meeting.

"How about we go corral the lord of the dance and head home?" Brianne asked as the music was coming to an end.

"Good idea." Tina agreed and then shouted to the stage, "Carrie, let's go."

"But Brianne isn't here." Carrie replied not quite finishing the last word as she looked over and saw Brianne.

"I'm here." Brianne replied as Carrie headed over to them.

"Hey, let me buy you a drink." Carrie said as she came up to them.

"No, I'm really not thirsty and we have a meeting tomorrow."

"Oh hell, I forgot about that. I forgot about everything tonight. Actually it was a pretty great night." Carrie said the warm buzz from the alcohol dulling the unpleasantness from earlier in the day.

"Drink some water when you get home. If you want I can swing by and pick you up tomorrow." Brianne offered.

"That would be great, if you would just drop me off here then I could get my car and the mechanic next door is where Carrie's car is. If you could get both of us that would be a huge help." Tina requested.

"No problem, now let's get out of here." Brianne said as she made her way to the door with Carrie and Tina following behind.

The next day Brianne showed up at Tina's house at 7:30 as they agreed upon the night before. Brianne was surprised to find Tina waiting by the gate, and even more surprised at her chipper spirit.

"I thought you would be a bit subdued this morning," she commented as they headed towards Carrie's place.

"Your advice to drink water helped. I also have a high tolerance for alcohol, it runs in the family."

"What happened to your face?" Brianne asked less than tactfully.

"Oh Carrie hit me yesterday," Tina explained as she touched the bruise on her cheek which was still tender.

"Carrie hit you?" Brianne asked both confused and surprised.

"Yeah, it was nothing, it happened when we were working out." Tina explained trying to brush off the topic.

"I was going to say, you both seemed to be getting along pretty well last night. So it happened yesterday?"

"It's nothing Brianne, really. It is completely over."

"I was just wondering because I didn't notice it last night."

"It was dark and bruises tend to get more noticeable over time so that's probably why you didn't notice it last night." Tina replied really wishing that Brianne would leave the topic.

When they arrived at Carrie's house, no sign of life was evident. Brianne flipped open her phone and hit Carrie's number. The phone rang 5 times before going to Carrie's machine.

"So what do we do now?" Brianne asked as they sat in the driveway.

"I think we're going to have to go in and get her. Carrie is a sound sleeper and with all she had to drink last night, she's probably just ignoring the phone." Tina explained as she recalled having attended camp with Carrie and the camp counselors' difficulties in getting Carrie up in the mornings.

"I'll try her one more time again, and then I guess we go in." Brianne said as she tried the number again.

"Still the machine?" Tina questioned knowing that Carrie would not be happy to see them.

"Yep, guess we go in, hopefully she won't be in the punching mood." Brianne joked.

They got out of the car and headed up the driveway. They tried knocking but no response. Brianne took out her set of keys and narrowed it down to three which she didn't recognize.

"Try the middle one," Tina suggested as she thought she remembered the key.

Sure enough the key was the correct one and Brianne and Tina hesitantly entered the room.

Tina had been in the house hundreds of times before and Brianne was familiar with it as well. It was the house that Carrie grew up in. When her mom moved to a condo, Carrie offered to buy the house from her. Kelly had wanted to give it to her outright, but Carrie wouldn't hear of it. Kelly finally relented and agreed to let Carrie buy it but she needn't worry as Carrie's dad promptly loaned her the money. It was a loan with great terms, no interest and nothing ever needed to be paid on it. It was one of the few advantages of being a child of divorce. Dad consistently indulged her.

The house still contained most of the tasteful furniture that Kelly had chosen for it. Still there were some things that were inescapably Carrie, a Titanic movie poster, Mayan pottery and weavings, and an etching of a labyrinth.

"What if she isn't here?" Brianne said hesitantly.

"The thought crossed my mind, but let's check out the place before we make that conclusion."

The house was completely still as they made their way down the hallway leading to the bedrooms. All the doors were closed and Brianne and Tina were both apprehensive to enter. Tina slowly opened the first door and checked out the inside of the room. It was the master bedroom, but it looked as though no one used it. They walked down to the next door on the same side of the hall which had been Carrie's room as a child, this time Brianne entered first. Carrie lay there in the bed still dressed in her clothes from the previous day. Sighing with relief, Brianne told Tina to wake her up.

"Why do I have to wake her?" Tina asked not exactly looking forward to the task.

"She's already hit you once, so we know you can take it." Brianne joked.

"Fine," Tina said as she walked over to the bed. She took Carrie by the shoulder and shook her calling her name quietly.

Carrie stirred but didn't wake up. Tina tried again this time speaking louder and shaking her harder. Carrie woke up startled, sitting straight up and also producing a gun which she had been keeping under the pillow.

"Whoa," Brianne said as Carrie pointed the gun at her. "It's just me, Brianne, and Tina is with me." Brianne sputtered as she stared at the gun pointing directly at her.

Carrie lowered the gun and shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Why are you in my bedroom," she asked as her eyes tried to adjust to the light. You shouldn't sneak up on people, gosh I could have killed you."

"I didn't know you curled up with your automatic at night." Brianne explained

"Yeah, well, um," Carrie attempted to respond as her head continued to pound. "I feel better if it is close by."

"Carrie, we've really got to get on our way if we're going to get both our cars and get to the office on time." Tina reminded her.

"I really don't feel like going in today." Carrie said as she lay back down in bed. When she looked up, Tina and Brianne had not moved and their expressions indicated that they didn't plan on going anywhere without her. "Fine, I'll get up." Carrie replied defeated as she trudged over towards the shower.

"I could use some coffee, how about you." Tina asked Brianne.

"Sure, do you think we should just make it without asking Carrie?"

"She'll appreciate it when it's ready, besides she just pulled a gun on you and you're not holding a grudge." Tina pointed out.

"Good point, but we did come into her house uninvited." Brianne countered.

"Uninvited yes, but we did have a key. I wouldn't worry about the coffee." Tina said as she entered the hallway and headed towards the kitchen.

"What kind of coffee would you like?" Tina asked as she looked at the staggering variety of coffee flavors in Carrie's pantry.

"I'm fine with plain, standard coffee." Brianne replied.

"Try again, she has twenty-two, no wait, make that twenty-three different flavors of coffee and none of them are plain, regular coffee. We've got every flavor from amaretto to vanilla nut toffee."

"Amaretto will be fine."

"I concur, amaretto it is then."

Before the coffee had finished brewing, Carrie appeared in the kitchen far more alert than she had been before her shower.

"Coffee smells good, thanks for getting it ready and for being so persistent in waking me up. I'm not trying to make things difficult, I just really have an extraordinary headache this morning and I would have preferred to sleep through it. However, if I didn't show, my mother would never let me hear the end of it and from the way both of you looked at me this morning, I knew I would be in even bigger trouble with the two of you." Carrie said as she managed a weak smile.

"Do you have any regular coffee?" Tina asked curious to see the answer.

"No, why would I? I don't like regular coffee."

"Just wondering."

"Do you have any travel mugs?" Brianne asked hoping to get things moving.

"Yeah, over there in the top cabinet beside the fridge." Carrie directed Brianne to the cups.

The coffee finished brewing, Tina filled the mugs and they set out on what would prove to be a most eventful day.

The three headed out the door, Brianne dropped Tina off at the pub to pick up her car, and then Carrie at the mechanic's to pick up hers. Within a half hour they all were seated in the office just under the 9:00 a.m. wire.

"Good morning, ladies." Kelly greeted them in good spirits.

Only Susan replied with an equally warm greeting.

"I see, did we have a rough night?" Kelly asked focusing her attention on Carrie who was sitting in the chair staring at the carpeting.

Before anyone answered, Tina spoke up. "Actually, Kelly I think I've come up with a few things that might be of interest regarding the case. First off, when I was analyzing the bullet trajectories last night I noticed that there seems to be some inconsistencies between them." Tina said as she got up and walked over to the laptop on Kelly's desk and inserting the zip drive into the USB slot.

If you will notice the trajectory patterns on three of the victims are similar probably fired by someone who is left handed. These would be the first two victims and the Stanford victim. As we know, Rafael Rousseau is left handed." Tina said as she put up the PowerPoint slide showing a diagram of the bullet trajectories for three of the victims.

"When did you say you did this?" Carrie asked amazed that Tina could see straight the previous night let alone come up with a theory about the case.

"Last night after we got home from the pub, there were some things that were bothering me and I couldn't sleep." Tina responded before continuing with the rest of her theory. "Three of the other victims showed a completely different trajectory and they include Rebecca Basen. If you notice," Tina said putting up the next slide on the screen, "the trajectories would indicate a right handed person."

"But there are 7 victims, so what happened to the other person?" Brianne asked curious to the difference.

"The other victim showed no definitive pattern that would have favored right or left. It was basically a central trajectory."

"Who was it?" Susan asked.

"Lois Miller the woman in Georgetown." Tina confirmed. "There was also one other thing that I noticed and I enlarged it for you to see. On Rebecca Basen's right thumb there is an imprint actually cuts into the skin" Tina explained as she flashed the image of the woman's thumb on the screen. This wound on her thumb was probably created when she was trying to fend off her assailant. It shows a circle in the middle with two open triangles on either side. It was a fresh wound according to the autopsy."

Carrie looked on in horror as the image flashed on the screen. She had seen that exact pattern before on Marcello's watch.

"Marcello wears a watch with a pattern like that." Carrie spoke up, realizing that Tina had been right and that she had almost made a terrible mistake.

"Are you sure?" Brianne asked knowing that Carrie had been speaking rather highly of the officer from Spain, the previous evening in the car.

"I'm positive. His wife gave him the watch for their fifth wedding anniversary, at least that's what he told me." Carrie replied disheartened.

"So what does this mean, Marcello is the killer?" Susan reasoned.

"Perhaps, but I believe the killer was whoever was wearing that watch." Tina explained. "I believe that Marcello is the person behind the right handed trajectory killings. I hacked into his credit card accounts last night and he was in Georgetown when that killing happened, he was in California when Rebecca Basen was killed and he was in Spain for Spanish killings. I checked because I was uneasy about his record keeping. Now that Carrie says he has a watch that matches the pattern it seems a little more likely.

"I guess it is a good thing no one pays with cash anymore." Brianne remarked.

"You do realize that none of you here heard that comment about hacking into his credit card files, right?" Kelly emphasized. "Anything obtained illegally cannot be used in court."

"Right, well I figured that once we gathered the rest of the information, we could subpoena the records and go through the proper channels." Tina explained. "I just wanted to make sure that he actually had opportunity to commit the crimes.

"So who is the left handed killer?" Susan asked. "Do you think it is still Rafael?"

"I think it is Rafael, and I think that Marcello is smart enough to keep the evidence pointing in his direction. The only trouble with all of this is that we've only got circumstantial evidence."

"I've got a date with Rafael today. We are supposed to be heading over to his house for a look at his mother's art, then possibly dinner." Susan reminded them.

"I was supposed to give Marcello a call he left a message on my machine while I was out last evening, so I guess I should follow through with that." Carrie said sounding particularly glum.

"Hey Carrie don't feel bad, it may still not turn out to be him. Maybe someone is trying to frame him." Brianne offered.

"Ladies be careful not to tip them off, if they are the guilty parties, I don't want you to give them any reason for adding you to their quarry." Kelly said her tone sounding very much like a worried mother.

Susan confirmed her date with Rafael and left to go home to choose her wardrobe. She would meet him at this house around 4:30 that afternoon.

Carrie likewise arranged to meet with Marcello who had said he missed her and wanted to see her again so he moved his vacation up. She decided to meet for a quick lunch as she didn't think she was up to spending hours with him. This would be a fact finding mission and hopefully she could contain her disgust at what she now knew him to be. They met at Guido's a little Italian place that her mom favored. Marcello was his usual charming self but Carrie found herself uncomfortable and she hoped that he was not picking up on it.

After the initial chit chat, and ordering, Carrie found herself lacking conversation topics, then she noticed that he was no longer wearing his anniversary watch.

"So what happened to your watch?" She asked him as she took his hand in hers.

"It stopped working, I left it at home. I'll get it fixed once I get back home."

Due to problems with the rest of the story will not upload. If you wish to read the remainder of the story. Please email me at Beemishbeliever at I think won't accept the at sign so replace the word "at" in the sentence with the at symbol when emailing me. Sorry for the problems.


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